INTERNATIONAL OBJECTS
WHEN INDUSTRIAL meets CRAFT, and lovely music resounds.
subtext: ARTISTS’ CRAFT – TOOLS
‘PERPETUAL SCREW’- opens Pandora’s Work Box,
and out falls a world of tools: be they functional, destroyed, mutated, imaginary, and even, ‘customized vernacular’.
ANNAKA OLSEN, graphic designer, and a founding partner [one of 4], of International Objects,
made the totally ‘pro-diy’ . . sign for their current exhibit, ‘Perpetual Screw’.
‘Perpetual Screw’ . . serves up a kind of ‘multi-layered’ question re: Industrial Design / whether shredded, re-purposed, outright distressed, adored, or sometimes just plain ole revered – the ‘tool’ is both the object & the subject, here. and that . . . makes it: art.
Vernacular, Utilitarian, or absolutely thrown-to-the-wind Destructed, often Decorated, far-out Imaginary and often Contrarian, possibly Futuristic; Machine-made, Hand-made, Factory-made / ‘tools’ become a world unto themselves.
yo, it’s that type of ‘infinite’/ ‘creative’ thinking, a quirky trait for such a finite physical body such as ours, no? / which probably takes ‘Screw’, above and beyond it’s utterly simple / purely industrial functional: a small tool, for ‘extreme’ fastening, just another excellent ‘design’, we take for granted in the carpenters’ tool box. or do we ?
we don’t say ‘nailed it’ – for nothing.
same with / he got ‘screwed’.
strangely both sentiments . . with quite opposite meaning.
Annaka’s well-inspired sign, crafted simply upon naked, commonplace ‘Dry Guard’, with seemingly DIY, but obviously skilled, hand-calligraphy, of (again), a basic, commonplace, ‘info-media’ – ‘stenciled’ nature, manages to express a lot of those confrontational and competing thoughts, all the while basking against Industrial Objects biggest visual punch / and, that would be it’s cold-edged ‘heart’; of futuristic, minimalist metal ‘caging’, meets bare concrete, in a perfect 2 step / of ‘indoor-outdoor’ architecture.
Even though we are often talking DIY, here / even if mutated . . there’s no mistaking this gallery space, for a retro showroom, let alone a white box, cube.
that sign says: Viewer Beware / you are about to open the door, to a Pandora’s Box of Tools / art, design, and thought – in progress.
and yeah, the green wave border – nails it.
note: ANNAKA OLSEN . . “is a graphic designer who leads creative projects for art, design, and cultural organizations. Her making & research practice explores software & online communities. She has taught
at RISD, MICA, & The New School.”
~ANNAKA OLSEN
PHOTOS & TEXT: NANCY SMITH – SEPT 30, 2023
~ANNAKA OLSEN, DRY GUARD SIGN / ‘Perpetual Screw’ |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | October 6th, 2023, 11:41am
so, is a truck – a tool ?
way YES !!
esp., when it’s . . . a U-haul.
I was so lucky – to arrive, just in time to catch some real – favs.
EMILY JANOWICK, and SAM COCKRELL.
Sam had a large painting in the show / well, unofficially.
it’s up on the 5th floor, near where the opening after-party bar was.
blame the photo ambiance, on the night sky / up, on the 5th floor outdoor terrace.
well, Sam’s one to appreciate the mystery of ‘auto-focus’, so all’s good, I figure.
EMILY JANOWICK, and PETER RAFEAL SHUGART ORTIZ.
Peter installed the show, seamless. lots of room between – the diverse displays.
very nice.
SAM COCKRELL, ‘U-haul’ painting.
it’s actually quite large, though not exactly life-size.
waiting on dimensions, now . . .
something like 5 x 3 ft. ?
it was nice to see, after all those out-of-focus ‘butterflies’, that Sam could zero in on the – focus,
when he wanted to.
note: his painting isn’t technically part of the show, which is on the 2nd floor.
it could be found on the 5th floor – near the bar, on the night of the after-party.
PHOTOS: NANCY SMITH / ‘Perpetual Objects’ opening / International Objects, Bushwick, NYC, NY SEPT 30, 2023
~EMILY JANOWICK, SAM COCKRELL & PETER RAFEAL SHUGART ORTIZ / ‘Perpetual Screw’ |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | October 5th, 2023, 9:56am
MY FAM . . . at the opening:
from left:
NICHOLAS STEINDORF, my son-in-law :), perhaps better known as, 1/2 of the NYC-based, forward future-looking,
Blinn & Lambert digital art collab; and father to my little, but way spunky grandson, Jules Simon Steindorf,
next gen art collector, maybe ? if not, then: world explorer / oh, ok.
make that . . worlds, plural !!
my son, THEO CERIGO, who survived being the 12 yr. old kid, shooting off Alfredo’s big ‘prop’ guns, in ‘WE LIVE IN PUBLIC’, the Sundance 2009 Grand Jury Award Winning Documentary . . which told the story of our Big New Year’s Eve Party of the milestone Millennial / DEC – JAN 14th, 2020. an explosive, downtown, way, way rebel indie, $1 million dollar+ cutting-edge / nascent web-tech / surveillance-wired Art Party. An Installation which was Interactive, often Adults-only XXX-rated, and, open to the public 24/7, with open bars, meaning free, back then.
we had a 90+ resident-artist crew, some international / which was a Josh Harris – Pseudo.com funded & led production.
needless to say Theo, was not only the youngest kid to participate in ‘WE LIVE IN PUBLIC’, but, the only one.
and apparently, even though he has long held a very useful Masters Degree in Financial Science, please check out the hat / he has never lost that inward ‘flair’, and questing, that his early brush with cinematic stardom, a kind of ‘INDIANNA JONES meets Downtown NYC art scene’, an, blows-up.
he says, he’s going to open a pop-up gallery in Chinatown, next year, and you know what ?
I wouldn’t want to be the one, who bet against him. stay tuned.
as well:
a heartfelt, recent RIP, goes out to: Alfredo Martinez, aka ‘the Real Fake Basquiat’ / artist, forger, & gun-maker, who left us – a few short months ago.
and, a big . . shout-out to JOSH HARRIS / our intrepid web entrepreneur, who some mainstream critics even call the ‘Warhol of the Web’, our fearless, or is that mega-bucks art patron / who made his $86 million fortune selling Jupiter.com a few scant years after founding it, the first web tracking site, and the set up the art-centric Pseudo.com / a live-streaming enterprise, run out of the PSEUDO.com studios – at the south-west corner of Houston and Broadway, when there was only: dial-up !!
and, I guess, another lol, is in order here, though I seriously – try hard, not to fall into that trap.
at right: my KATE CERIGO, is a professional creative; currently in the media & fashion world,
with an SVA degree in Graphics, from about a decade ago.
unlike the rest of us, i.e. her family, she prefers to keep things, on the down-low.
see: Nicholas Steindorf on IG / @nchlsstndrf
see: Blinn & Lambert on IG / @blinn_and_lambert
see: Kate Cerigo on IG / @katecerigo
‘PERPETUAL OBJECTS’, A BIG GROUP SHOW / at INTERNATIONAL OBJECTS ART GALLERY, BUSHWICK, BROOKLYN, NYC /
OPENED SEPT 30, 2023.
PHOTOS: NANCY SMITH
JUST, FYI:
so, what do we know about . . Industrial Design & ART Installations /
THEO CERIGO . . aged 12, in his pod, at ‘QUIET’ / ‘WE LIVE IN PUBLIC’.
DOWNTOWN NYC, DEC 15 – JAN 10, 2020.
btw, he’s wearing the standard issue – WLIP in-house production crew uniform: orange work pants, and gray button-up utility shirt. this uniform might not be considered radical now, but coming out of the disco 80s, and then the jeans & flannel 90’s, it was.
the fully-wired, ‘QUIET’ Pod Hotel, inspired by Japanese pod hotels, was designed & fabricated by JEFF GOMPERTZ.
‘Quiet’ was the original name for the Millennial bash plus art installation; as it grew & evolved, and as its social media / frontier implications became more defined / esp with 24/ surveillance, and live streaming / the ‘party’, morphed into a brand: WE LIVE IN OPUBLIC, I mean even the ‘community’ shower, was transparent & live streaming.
Archival Photo: NANCY SMITH
so, just what do we know about . . craft, DIY design, & on-site sustainability ?
not to mention . . ‘insider/outsider’ roles ?
and, not to forget, artist-made lighting fixtures / vernacular objects turned folk art . . in what was essentially a sci-fi setting, let loose upon 4+ floors of an old warehouse on Lower Broadway, a ‘social experiment’ as Josh liked to call it. And which Ondie Timoner, the filmmaker behind the the documentary, likens to the ‘birth of social media’.
NANCY SMITH, ‘PAPER LANTERN’, ‘QUIET’ / ‘WE LIVE IN PUBLIC’.
while I was hired on at first, as a participating artist – supposedly leading a Quilting BEE for Techies (!!)
I quickly became a part of the Production crew, and didn’t have much extra time, or materials – to make my own art for the approximately 3 week event.
so, I improvised with whatever was at hand, including ordinary typing paper, and other stuff just lying around, like the exhibition invite card above, and ‘Xmas red’ sparkles, grabbed from the then nearby Pearl Paint, on Canal St.
at night, some mystery pro lighting designer would come ‘zap’ up, the newest installations, and Josh had them light up my lanterns, too. that’s how fluid things were: dramatic, dramatic, extreme sport / spontaneous creative, and . . more dramatic, dramatic, dramatic / literally dramatic, from the lighting on down, to the outsize egos, Drama was a big part of the mix / on every level.
like one big . . paper, rock, scissors / craft, industrial, ego blow-out.
Archival Photo: NANCY SMITH
~MY FAM . . at the opening / ‘Perpetual Screw’, International Objects – UPDATED WITH 2 ARCHIVAL WLIP / WE LIVE IN PUBLIC, PHOTOS |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | October 3rd, 2023, 4:45pm
ARTIST CRAFT MONTH in NYC / SEPT 2023 – TOOLS
INTERNATIONAL OBJECTS, ‘PERPETUAL SCREW’ – BIG GROUP SHOW
OPENS – SAT SEPT 30 / 6 – 9 PM
for list of participating artists / mission statement, see: ‘PERPETUAL SCREW’ – EXHIBITS
JEFF WILLIAMS, ‘Broken Arm’, 2019
image courtesy International Objects
~JEFF WILLIAMS . . ‘BROKEN ARM’ / ‘PERPETUAL SCREW’ / INTERNATIONAL OBJECTS |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | September 28th, 2023, 11:26am
ARTIST CRAFT MONTH in NYC / SEPT 2023 – TOOLS
‘PERPETUAL SCREW’ – OPENS SAT SEPT 30 / 6 – 9 PM
INTERNATIONAL OBJECTS
DAVID BORDETT / ‘Excavator Oasis’
~DAVID BORDETT . . ‘EXCAVATOR OASIS ‘ / ‘PERPETUAL SCREW’ / INTERNATIONAL OBJECTS / |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | September 28th, 2023, 9:49am
ARTIST CRAFT MONTH in NYC, SEPT 2023 – CRAFT & TOOLS . . !!
INTERNATIONAL OBJECTS – ‘PERPETUAL SCREW’ – a big blow-out / build-out / group show
OPENS SAT SEPT 30, 2023 / 6 – 9 PM
INTERNATIONAL OBJECTS, 53 SCOTT AVE., 5th FLOOR, EAST WILLIAMSBURG / BUSHWICK, BROOKLYN, NYC 11237
viewing hrs during exhibits:
THURS / 12-10PM
FRI-Sun / 12-6 PM
or by appointment
also, see: International Objects on IG @internationalobjects
POSTER IMAGE by SHAUN KRUPS, ‘Boat Propeller’, 2017.
water soluble oil on canvas / 21 x 21 in.
~SHAUN KRUPA . . ‘BOAT PROPELLER’ / ‘PERPETUAL SCREW’ . . GROUP SHOW / INTERNATIONAL OBJECTS / BROOKLYN / OPENS SAT SEPT 30 |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | September 27th, 2023, 4:30pm
ARTIST CRAFT MONTH in NYC / SEPT 2023 – TOOLS
GARDENING ?
ARTIST-LED, COMMUNITY GARDEN ?
definite . . a CRAFT !!
SHOUT OUT TO: JEFFREY TRANCHELL
LAVENDER COUNTRY DETROIT / GARDEN SWAP
GIVE TAKE TRADE / PLANT SWAP / SEEDS STARTERS BULBS CLIPPINGS / HOUSEPLANTS / TOOLS
12333 MACKAY ST, DETROIT
SAT SEPT 30, 2023 / 4 – 7 PM
~LAVENDER COUNTRY DETROIT / PLANT SWAP, SEEDS, HOUSE PLANTS, & TOOLS / DETROIT / SAT SEPT 30 |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | September 27th, 2023, 4:02pm
ARTIST CRAFT MONTH in NYC / SEPT 2023 – TOOLS
when you see ‘craft’ – ‘tools’ are not far behind.
in this case, the ‘tools’ are also, the hand-made / one-of-a-kind . . art.
JACOB GOBLE . . is a NYC-based painter, and museum . . . ‘mountmaker’.
he makes custom ‘mounts’ to hold up the historic, precious items that are going to be displayed
at the MET / The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
sometimes he has to fabricate the tools, as well as the mounts, themselves.
you can follow his work, life, and art on Instagram: @jacob__goble
note: all images via Instagram @jacob__goble
JACOB GOBLE . . . hand-made calipers, Sept 2023
@jacob_goble: “I made another set of ‘inside/outside’ calipers.
#bentfinger #caliper #divider #measuringtools #measure #handmadetools #brass
just in case,
you’re as curious, as I am, here’s a recent ‘museum mount’ he designed & fabricated for The Met:
@jacob__goble: “An early 15th Century Italian Jar and its ‘Earthquake’ mount. In the unfortunate event of seismic activity this mount will keep the jar from jangling around. / for: The MET / The Metropolitan Museum of Art, NYC.”
~JACOB GOBLE . . INSIDE/OUTSIDE CALIPERS |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | September 26th, 2023, 3:19pm
changing gears – but, still . . . !!
ARTIST – CRAFT MONTH in NYC / SEPT 2023
HAND-CARVING WOOD TOOLS – are definite . . implied.
TWO RARE WOODLANDS MIDE SOCIETY EFFIGY HEADS /
POWERS – LOWENFELS,
53 Stanton St., LOWER EAST SIDE, NYC
“They have . . . something which may be called an idol. This is the Manitto [sic] representing in wood the head of a man in miniature, which they always carry about them, either on a string round their neck, or in a bag. They hang it also about their children, to preserve them from illness and ensure them success.”
~George Henry Loskiel, ‘The History of the Moravian Mission Among the Indians of North America’, 1838, p. 8. / via Steven S. Powers / @stevenspowers
the smaller one, top, is maple burl – the larger one is elm burl – [SOLD]
these burl-head-shaman spirits – are “early to mid 19th C.” ~ Steven S. Powers
ALL images – courtesy: @stevenspowers
note: A ‘burl’ or burr . . . is a tree growth in which the grain has grown in a deformed manner. it is commonly found in the form of a rounded outgrowth on a tree trunk or branch that is filled with small knots from dormant buds.
~wikipedia
~WOODLANDS MIDE Society / EFFIGY HEADS / POWERS LOWENFELS / Lower East Side, NY |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | September 25th, 2023, 2:44pm
ARTIST CRAFT MONTH – in NYC / SEPT 2023 – continues:
where there’s . . CRAFT / there’s . . . TOOLS !!!
SKEWVILLE – ‘BUILD A BONG WORKSHOP’
SUN SEPT 24 / 12 – 6 PM
237 STARR St., BROOKLYN
FEE: $20
GRAB YOUR OLD WINE BOTTLES, ANTIQUES / FAMILY HEIRLOOMS ? or SODA BOTTLES & HEAD TO . . .
‘THE BUILD A BONG WORKSHOP’ at SKEWVILE.’
all images courtesy: SKEWVILLE on Instagram @skewville
~SKEWVILLE . . ‘BUILD A BONG WORKSHOP’ / SUN SEPT 24 |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | September 24th, 2023, 9:06am
